A.C.E. Page 14 n THE ASIAN REPORTER December 4, 2023 Godzilla film director pursuing Japanese spirituality of 1954 original Continued from page 20 And so its arrival puts everything back into negative, or minus, territory. Ryunosuke Kamiki portrays the hero, a soldier who survives the war and loses his family, only to end up confronting God- zilla. The monster’s finely detailed depiction is the work of the Tokyo-based Shirogumi digital special-effects team, which includes Yamazaki. A frightfully realistic-appearing Godzilla crashes into fleeing screaming crowds, its giant tail sweeping buildings in a flash, its bumpy skin glowing like irradiated embers, its growl getting right up into your face. Some Godzilla aficionados feel Hollywood has at times incorrectly portrayed “Gojira,” as it is known in Japan, like an inevitably fatalistic natural disaster, when the nuclear angle is key. Yamazaki, a friendly man with quick laughs, stressed he loves the special effects of Hollywood films, adding that he is a big fan of Gareth Edwards’ 2014 Godzilla film. That helped inspire the last Japanese Godzilla, the 2016 Shin Godzilla, directed by Hideaki Anno and Shinji Higuchi. Toho studios hadn’t made a Godzilla film since 2004. Yamazaki, who has worked with famed auteur Juzo Itami, has won Japan’s equivalent of an Oscar for Always — Sunset on Third Street, a heartwarming family drama set in the 1950s, and The Eternal Zero, about Japanese fighter JAPANESE SPIRITUALITY. Pictured in Tokyo are Godzilla Minus One director Takashi Yamazaki, left, and actor Ryunosuke Kamiki. In the 1954 classic film, directed by Ishiro Honda, a man sweated inside a rubber suit and trampled over cityscape miniatures to tell the story of a prehistoric creature mistakenly brought to life by radiation from nuclear testing in the Pacific. The monster in Godzilla Minus One is all computer graphics. (AP Photo/Shuji Kajiyama) pilots. He is ready to make another Godzilla movie. But what he really wants to make is a Star Wars film. What got him interested in filmmaking as a child was Steven Spielberg’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind. He was so enthralled with the film he couldn’t stop talking about it, he recalled, following his mother around for hours, even as she was cooking dinner. Star Wars, the franchise created by George Lucas and another science-fiction favorite, evokes so many Asian themes that make him the perfect director for a sequel, Yamazaki said. “I am confident I can create a very special and unique Star Wars,” he said. Tackling climate change and alleviating hunger: States recycle and donate food headed to landfills Continued from page 7 meat, vegetables, and dairy release the greenhouse gas methane after being dumped in a landfill. Rescuing unwanted fruits and vegetables, eggs, cereals, and other food also helps to feed hungry families. Globally, about a third of food is wasted. In the United States, it’s even higher, at 40%, according to the Harvard Food Law and Policy Clinic. The U.S. spends about $218 billion each year growing and producing food that is wasted. About 63 million tons (57 million metric tons) goes to waste, including 52.4 million tons (47.5 million metric tons) that ends up in landfills and 10 million tons (9 million metric tons) never harvested from farms. “What’s shocking to people often is not only how much we waste ... but also the impact,” said Emily Broad Leib, a Harvard University law professor and director of the school’s Food Law and Policy Clinic. “Food waste causes about 8% to 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions.” Broad Leib says 20% of water in the U.S. is used to grow food “that we then just throw away, so we’re basically taking water and putting it directly into a landfill.” But she and others also note there is growing awareness of the need to do something about food waste in the U.S. In 2015, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Environmental Protection Agency announced a goal of 50% food waste reduction by 2030. That has prompted a number of state-led initiatives, 9 6 5 3 8 7 6 1 8 4 5 4 3 5 Difficulty EASY Wondering when our next issue is published? Sign up for e-alerts at <news@asianreporter.com>! 6 1 7 9 7 2 4 5 along with smaller, nonprofit efforts. Ten states and the District of Columbia have passed legislation or executed policies to reduce, compost, or donate waste. All 50 states have passed legislation shielding donors and recovery organizations from criminal and civil liability linked to donated food. California and Vermont have launched programs converting residents’ food waste into compost or energy, while Connecticut requires businesses, including larger food wholesalers and supermarkets, to recycle food waste. Farmers in Maryland can get a tax credit of up to $5,000 per farm for food they donate. Several states have joined New York in setting up systems allowing food to be donated. Rhode Island requires food vendors servicing education institutions to donate any unused food to food banks, while Massachusetts limits the amount of food that businesses can send to landfills, which Broad Leib said has increased food donations in the state by 22% over two years. New York’s program is in its second year, and state officials believe it’s having a significant impact. As of late October, the program had redistributed 5 million pounds (2.3 million kilograms) of food — the equivalent of 4 million meals — through Feeding New York State, which supports the state’s 10 regional food banks and is hoping to double that number next year. Among those required to donate food include colleges, prisons, amusement parks, and sporting venues. “Certainly, we should be reducing the amount we waste to start with, but then we should be feeding people before we throw food away if it’s good, wholesome food,” said Sally Rowland, supervisor with the state Department of Environmental Conservation’s Organics, Reduction, and Recycling section. “To me, it’s a common sense kind of thing and I think it’s just kind of built that momentum of people understanding about how much food we’re really wasting.” New York’s Westchester County has eight refrigerated 7 2 2 1 5 6 4 7 level: Easy 9 8 #95376 # 62 Instructions: Fill in the grid so that the digits 1 through 9 appear one time each in every row, col- umn, and 3x3 box. Solution to last issue’s puzzle Puzzle #69371 (Hard) All solutions available at <www.sudoku.com>. 1 4 6 8 5 3 7 2 9 7 3 5 2 9 1 6 8 4 8 2 9 4 7 6 3 1 5 6 7 3 5 8 9 1 4 2 5 8 4 6 1 2 9 3 7 9 1 2 7 3 4 5 6 8 3 5 1 9 4 8 2 7 6 4 6 7 3 2 5 8 9 1 2 9 8 1 6 7 4 5 3 Mark your calendar! The Year of the Dragon begins February 10, 2024. Display advertising space reservations for our special Year of the Dragon issue are due Monday, January 22 at 5:00pm. The Asian Reporter’s Lunar New Year special issue will be published on Monday, February 5, 2024. trucks that pick up all types of perishable food, according to Danielle Vasquez, food donations coordinator for Feeding Westchester, one of the state’s food banks. The group started working with businesses in 2014 but has seen participation ramp up since the donation law went into effect last year. Much of the food collected goes to nearly 300 programs and partners throughout the county, including a mobile food pantry and the Carver Center, a nonprofit serving Port Chester’s families and children, which has a pantry. “This time of year is very important for us and a lot of families across Westchester,” Vasquez said. “There is the high cost of food. There is a high cost of living. Westchester is a very expensive county to live in. ... We are here to supplement our families as much as we can so, that way, they can focus that money on paying their bills.” Among those visiting the Carver Center last month was Betsy Quiroa, who lamented how the cost of everything had gone up since the coronavirus pandemic. She was counting on getting milk, eggs, fruits, and vegetables during her visit and said she didn’t care if the produce was dented or slightly damaged. “Coming here is good,” said Quiroa, a mother of four who relies on Social Security. “If you are not working, you buy nothing. This is the problem.” Despite New York’s success, advocates for food waste worry not enough is being done to meet the 2030 goal. Broad Leib and others have called for a national effort to coordinate the various state and local policies. There is a goal, “but we don’t really have a great roadmap ... and how we’re going to actually achieve that end goal by 2030, which is kind of crazy,” Broad Leib said, adding that a one-person liaison office in the USDA isn’t sufficient to address the problem. Kathryn Bender, a University of Delaware assistant professor of economics, said donation programs are helpful, but she worries they might shift the burden from businesses to nonprofits, which could struggle to distribute all the food. “The best solution for food waste is to not have it in the first place,” Bender said. “If we don’t need to produce all that food, let’s not put all the resources into producing that food.” Casey reported from Boston.